This Simple Sitting Test May Help Predict How Long You’ll Live

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Claudio Gil Araujo and his associates formulated a very simple sitting test to predict how much longer adults aged 51-80 have left to live which can be done anywhere.

This test was recently published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology (December 13, 2012) and has been reported on Discover Magazine.

How the Sitting-Rise Test Works

The first step is to wear comfortable clothes and be barefoot and then stand in a clear space with no objects near you. Lower yourself to the floor, into a cross-legged position and then stand back up again.

You may not lean on anything while lowering or raising yourself and each time you use your hands, knees, forearms or side of your legs for support or to help raise or lower yourself you lose one point and every time you lose balance you lose half a point. It takes five points to get up correctly and five points to lower yourself correctly.

Try It

1. Stand in comfortable clothes in your bare feet, with clear space around you.
2. Without leaning on anything, lower yourself to a sitting position on the floor.
3. Now stand back up, trying not to use your hands, knees, forearms or sides of your legs.

Scoring

The two basic movements in the sitting-rising test — lowering to the floor and standing back up — are each scored on a 1-to-5 scale, with one point subtracted each time a hand or knee is used for support and 0.5 points subtracted for loss of balance; this yields a single 10-point scale.

Results of the Sitting-Rising Test

This test was conducted on 2002 adults between the ages of 51 and 80 (mostly men) with an average follow up of just over six years. Within this time there were 159 deaths and it was found that these deaths followed the pattern that the lower the SRT test score, the higher the mortality rate [1], each point lost on the SRT Test was found to equate to roughly 21% mortality.

Reasons for the SRT Test

In developing the SRT Test Claudio Gil Araujo felt that many tests to predict mortality were impractical, time-consuming and could be subject to error such as the clinician’s speed with the stop watch or the height of the chair used. Claudio wanted to find a way that took away these limitations and was accessible to everyone.

What This Test Teaches Us

According to the test ‘Musculoskeletal fitness, as assessed by SRT, was a significant predictor of mortality in 51-80 year old subjects.’

This means that by doing things to improve our musculoskeletal fitness we may be able to improve our life expectancy. Although this test was not done with younger subjects it is believed that the earlier it is done, the longer the person may have to improve their fitness levels and so increase their life expectancy. It encourages people to get active and get into shape.

The Sitting-Rising Test is a test that was developed by Claudio Gil Araujo to be accessible to everyone and a way of testing how good our musculoskeletal fitness levels are, which in turn has been seen to have a strong correlation to our mortality rates. By doing this test and getting a better understanding of our life expectancy it is hoped that we will take the necessary action to improve our lives and live longer.